NASA, SpaceX assess KSC damage before setting Europa Clipper launch on Falcon Heavy

Although Hurricane Milton has left Florida, NASA and SpaceX will have to wait for Kennedy Space Center to reopen before it can try and launch the Europa Clipper mission to the icy Jupiter moon for which it’s been named.

“The safety of everyone impacted by the storm remains our top priority as the agency begins the assessment and recovery process from the hurricane,” reads a post from NASA.

Winds were still gusting to near 70 mph on the Space Coast as of 8 a.m. Thursday as the hurricane moved out into the Atlantic. On Wednesday, KSC and neighboring Cape Canaveral Space Force Station fell under two tornado warnings, but the extent of any damage has yet to be reported.

“Once the winds subsided to a safe level, the center’s Ride Out Team and engineering teams began initial checkouts to ensure bridges are safe and useable. Later, a larger assessment team will thoroughly check the entire center,” NASA posted.

The marquee mission for NASA plans to send the $5.2 billion satellite on what would be just the second Falcon Heavy launch of the year from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A no earlier than Sunday, Oct. 13, which if it launched would target a 12:12 p.m. liftoff. A Monday backup would come at 12:06 p.m., but there are launch opportunities for the mission through Nov. 6.

The mission is a joint effort between NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory. It’s the largest spacecraft NASA has ever built for a planetary mission. The solar-powered spacecraft’s aims to orbit Jupiter and make nearly 50 flybys of Europa, but not land on it. Its goal is see if there are places below Europa’s surface that could support life.

A launch date won’t be set until teams from both NASA and SpaceX are able to confirm it’s safe to launch.

On a related note, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will also remain closed on Friday, but plans to reopen to the public on Saturday.

The hurricane was also the reason NASA and SpaceX held off any planned return of the Crew-8 astronauts currently on board the International Space Station.

An original plan to undock from the ISS this week has been pushed to no earlier than Sunday, which is still dependent on good weather off the coast of Florida in any of the eight landing spots in either the Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic.

The Crew-8 quartet have been on board since March, and are set to leave now that their replacement crew, Crew-9, arrived to the ISS at the end of September.